to regular rent (abwabs, veths, cesses, etc.) and non-compensated services,

by the tenant, protection against eviction, and limitation on interest

charges on rent arrears.

From the brief review of the period of British administration above at least five factors may be viewed as significant in their effects on India's tenure structure and land problems at the time of Independence.

(1) Zamindar acquisition of property rights: Under the British, the one who had been strictly a revenue-collector under the Moghul became the proprietor, and accorded rights and privileges comparable to an English landlord. The result was a decline in the rights of the cultivator and an opening for maximum rent expropriation by the landlord.

(2) Nature of the revenue system: The British fiscal system in India was not organized for the benefit of the Indian people. Whether under administration of the Company or the Crown, the land was viewed, in a very short term sense, purely as a source of treasure enhancement. In the early stages of British rule at least, much of this revenue was in fact used for the costs of conquest and administration. Under the British, all revenue payments were made in cash. The moneylender was freed from the bonds of custom and cultivators' position was reduced still further. (3) Impact of the market economy: The cultivator became exposed to

a market economy with which he was ill-prepared and ill-advised to cope. He was subjected, then, not only to the vicissitudes of nature but to the variations of a price economy. Whereas custom and tradition had, in a sense protected him in the past, it now stood as a major obstacle to his improvement. British industry discouraged the manufacturers and encouraged

the primary industries; resources were directed into agriculture. Heavy pressure of population on the land increased with the introduction of health measures and failure to industrialize. The effects of general underdevelopment fell upon agriculture.

Even

(4) Decay of the village: Finally, there was the decay of the village community. As one of the institutions that served the cultivator economically, politically and socially, it formed the nexus of the agrarian structure. where the village was recognized in the revenue system (as in the mahalwari settlements) it was allowed to deteriorate. Other revenue systems displaced

it forthrightly.

The village's demise meant a relocation of property rights

in favor of the landlords and the State.

(5) Land reform measures; Near the close of the British era, reforms in the tenure system began to make their appearance. Measures attempting to restore greater security of tenure, confer occupancy rights on long-term tenants, reduce rents in periods of crop failure, reduce interest and principal payments on rent in arrears, represent examples of the government's efforts to reduce hardship on the ryots. Although the measures were usually local, weak, and unaccompanied by sufficient complementary programs, they did represent an acknowledgement of land tenure problems and provided the basis for some of India's present reform measures.

Land Resources

Shortly after Independence, about 13 percent of the area of India was "unclassified." 1/ This unclassified land was, for the most part, desert and mountains, hence nonagricultural. (See Table pg. 17) For the "pre-reform" period/

land

1/ For a good discussion of land use and other agricultural problems in post Independence India, see S. Thirumalai. Post War Agricultural Problems and Policies in India, esp. Chapter V. His land use data referred to 1949-50 in which 25 percent of the area was "unclassified."

2/ Does not include data for Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Nagaland, NEFA and Pondicherry, which were non-reporting.

3/ Does not include data for Dadra and Nagar Haveli which are non-reporting. Unreported area includes territory in Jammu and Kashmir occupied by Pakistan and China.

Source: Adapted from Govt. of India. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. India: A Reference Annual, 1968, p. 221.

on which use was reported was about 70 percent agricultural.

By world standards,

this is a high proportion. A relatively high percent of land in India is in cropland. (See chart pg. 18) Opportunities for expansion extensively, therefore, were limited. New areas had to be developed through reclamation and intensification. While population was expanding, very little increase in cultivated land took place.

exactly comparable to Table pg. 17, fallow and sown.

With adjustments for area changes, Thirumalai shows a per capita

decline in net sown area of 0.88 to 0.75 acres between 1911 and 1951. 1/ Absolute densities of population were below that of some countries of western Europe and Southeast Asia. Yet the serious and growing pressure of land resources was an important factor in the argument for land reform. In the aggregate, the planning officials in India had relatively

good information on available cropland, and the uses being made of land. A Central Department of Agriculture was established in 1894 at the recommendation of the 1880 Famine Commission. Crop and livestock production, irrigation, and similar information is available through the

1/ Thirumalai, p. 85.

Ministry of Agriculture 1/ for most of this century and much of the last. A national soil survey did not exist. Land revenue statistics were available but they are of little use in determining land values. Compared to many less-developed countries, India was relatively wellendowed with statistics. Even so, the Planning Commission, as late as the Third Five-Year Plan stated " there are large gaps in the

Records of rights, designed for revenue purposes, were generally inadequate for administering a land reform program. In the permanently settled zamindari areas, records were not required by government because revenue was paid by the zamindar rather than occupant. In the temporary settlement and ryotwari areas, record systems existed but often were poorly kept and often, at the village level, completely useless. The quality of records deteriorated after Independence because of changes in tenure status, partition, absence of cadastral survey, reorganization of States, and changes in local administration. Land records were inadequate for the implementation of land reform and they were worsened by the reform process.

Production

Production in Indian agriculture was low by world standards but represented a high proportion--50 percent--of national income. In the 1/ See Abstract of Agricultural Statistics and Agricultural Situation in India.